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The London Knights can have pretty much any veteran star player they want come the OHL trade deadline.

All they have to do is trade forward Mitch Marner.

Thank goodness that’s not going to happen. Marner is about as untouchable as it gets for the Knights, or at least he should be.

Given their most attractive market commodity is not on the market, the Knights master of roster manipulation general manager Mark Hunter is going to have to find some other way of getting what he wants to make his team better.

He doesn’t need a lot but he needs a little something, something, as they say.

The issue may be that he’s constrained in what he has to offer.

First things first, what do the Knights need?

The most popular theory is they need a little more depth on the blueline and will go after a defenceman. They could also use a goal scorer -- someone with good hands that won’t waste a lot of scoring opportunities. The Knights waste a lot of scoring opportunities.

The trouble is Hunter might only be able to get one of his needs and not just because teams might be wary of helping a team out that’s been hot lately. Some of it has to do with what Hunter has to deal and the room he has on his roster. The Knights are also cognizant that they are already guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament as the host city. Needless to say that from a financial, marketing and team preparation standpoint, the Knights need to go as far into the playoffs as possible.

Hunter has been known to perform the loaves of bread and fishes trick several times. He somehow manages to divide up what he has, to satisfy all those hungry teams.

If he can’t fill all his wants and needs, remembering he only has room for a maximum of two players, he’ll try and get what he can. He may move some of his lesser younger players along with a bunch of draft choices

No one is really sure what’s going to happen over the next few days but if it goes as it usually does, a team will make a splash and then other teams in its conference will respond to the move and a free-for-all will ensue. With the trade deadline falling on Friday, it makes Wednesday and Thursday carnival ride days.

While the Knights may grab a ride or two, don’t expect them to buy the all-you-can-ride pass for a number of reasons.

The Knights have been winning.

“I think we have a pretty good team right now,” Hunter said. “We are by no means in a panic mode. We have the same number of points that we had last year.”

What about help on the blueline?

“When you look at it, we’ve had (defenceman Nikita) Zadorov for only eight games,” he said. “That’s one of the best defenceman in the league and we’ve only had him for eight games.”

Hunter also says that he believes in loyalty and he has several players who have done everything asked of them.

“They deserve to be at a Memorial Cup again,” he said.

Loyalty aside, the market for some of the players the Knights have are limited. Teams looking to build will want young players and draft choices. Even some players who have one year left in the OHL after this year might not be marketable because they are good enough to be in the NHL next year.

Remember the Knights deal that landed them John Tavares and Michael Del Zotto? Most people recognized Tavares was going to be gone to the NHL but the Knights expected Del Zotto to return. He made the NHL.

“I’ve already made a lot of moves earlier,” Hunter said.

Bringing in Zach Bell, Brady Austin and Alex Basso has already cost Hunter players and draft choices he might have used for deadline deals.

He got players he needed when they became available.

The market for players being dealt isn’t big either. With the Knights already guaranteed a spot in the Memorial Cup, if they win the Western Conference, the winner of the Eastern Conference goes automatically to the tournament.

There will be a lot of Eastern Conference teams looking to load up from their weaker conference partners.

In the west, teams like Erie, Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie all think they can win their conference. Teams have already made, and depending on what other teams do, will make moves to make themselves stronger.

Hunter’s best deals often come late in the trading deadline because that’s when he knows just how many loaves of bread and fish he needs to satisfy the hungry.